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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26617909">In Control</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NKXanP/pseuds/NKXanP'>NKXanP</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Scars of Love and War [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:54:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,249</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26617909</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NKXanP/pseuds/NKXanP</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zero's been missing for a month now. Where could he be?</p><p>(I know the summary sucks but shh. Also there's hypnosis shit in here but love wins in the end woohoo)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Avatar | Custom Hero (Sonic Forces)/Infinite (Sonic the Hedgehog)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Scars of Love and War [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823839</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In Control</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sorry for the late posting, I just suck at keeping a schedule (honestly I'm surprised this is the first time I missed a posting day).</p><p>Enjoy! (Or don't. I can't make you.)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been around a month and a half since Zero went missing; he had went to investigate some happenings near Doctor Starline's current roost, and never returned. At first, the Resistance assumed he was still out gathering information, but when one day became two days, which became a week, which became a month, they realized something was wrong. They gathered a team: Sonic, because he's the hero, in case you forgot; Knuckles, Amy, and Silver, for added firepower; and Gadget, not just for added firepower, but because he was Zero's boyfriend. (Obviously.) When they got to Starline's base, they were greeted by Zero, who was staring at them blankly from the field in front of the factory Doctor Starline called home.</p><p>Soon enough, the Doctor himself joined them. "Well, well, well. The heroes finally arrive for their friend."</p><p>Gadget could tell something was wrong. Usually, by this point, Zero would have uttered some quip; he wasn't exactly known for being super quiet. "What did you do to him?"</p><p>"Oh, I just took a load off his mind. He has a very troubled past, you know. So, imagine my surprise when I see him lurking around my base. Luckily, I'd just finished a new device, and capturing him gave me the perfect excuse to try it out. He's now the perfect soldier: no emotions, no conscience, and he follows orders perfectly. Observe." He cleared his throat. "Zero? <em>Kill the wolf.</em>"</p><p>Almost immediately, Zero sprung to action, attacking Gadget. The latter, having barely any time to react, managed to duck the first swing before taking off to find some way to get away from Zero. He ran through the forest, trying to shake Zero off his tail, but the jackal kept up his consistent pursuit. Ultimately, Gadget came to a clearing, and suddenly realized his situation. Thick ferns covered every opening in the trees, making escape highly unlikely. Meanwhile, the only way out of the clearing was currently being blocked by a murder-happy enslaved jackal.</p><p>In short?</p><p>He was screwed.</p><p>He turned around to face Zero, slowly backing up as the latter walked towards him menacingly. As he was being backed into a corner, Gadget tried to think of any way out of this hell he had found himself in. Sure, realistically, he could probably shoot Zero with his Wispon, but Gadget wasn't so sure he wanted to do that. Taking out any options that could possibly lead to him accidentally killing Zero left Gadget with one choice. He backed up to a tree and waited to put his plan into action.</p>
<hr/><p>How dare this wolf attack Zero and his squad? Now, he was going to pay in blood.</p><p>Zero couldn't remember much of anything; he blamed it on his rage, but something felt like an outside force was keeping him from remembering something important: something about the status of the squad, or his relationship with the wolf. Regardless, all he knew for sure was that this wolf had slighted him, and was going to die.</p><p>He backed his prey up to a tree near the back of the clearing and prepared to turn him into cold cuts, when suddenly...</p><p>BLAM!</p><p>All of a sudden, the wolf (<del>Ga-Gad-</del>) had sprung from the tree and tackled him to the ground. Instead of attacking him with a weapon, however, the wolf (<del>Gadg-Gadget?</del>) started... kissing him?</p><p>Everything in him screamed to get up, get on his feet, run away, but a little voice further in the back of his mind said to stay (<del>you're where you should be</del>). Still, his self-preservation instincts won out (what if he's going to stab you <del>he won't</del> or shoot you <del>HE WON'T</del>), and he pushed the wolf (who he was pretty sure was named Gadget) off of him and scrambled to his feet.</p>
<hr/><p>At first, Gadget thought it hadn't worked at all, but he saw the dazed look in Zero's eyes; he had gotten through, if only a little. He grabbed a random piece of rebar from a nearby piece of wreckage to defend himself; he wasn't going to use his Wispon, for fear of hurting Zero.</p><p>It was like some oversimplification of a sword fight; Zero would swing, Gadget would block, then Gadget would swing back and Zero would parry the swing effortlessly. All the while, Gadget was looking for some opening to tackle Zero again.</p><p>Zero's swing, Gadget's block, Gadget's swing, Zero's parry into a sword thrust, Gadget jumping away and swinging, but missing Zero; it repeated like clockwork. The whole time, there wasn't a single opening to try and tackle him.</p><p>Then a thought occurred to him.</p>
<hr/><p>Zero swung, but instead of blocking it like usual, Gadget jumped back in an empty fade. Zero's eyes went wide (<del>did he learn that move from me?</del>); he had made a mistake and now, a quick smack to Zero's sword hand with the rebar knocked the sword out of his hand. Zero braced himself to get stabbed...</p><p>...but Gadget tackled him and kissed him again. Something about this felt so wrong, and yet so right (<del>of course it feels right he's-</del>). The small voice telling him to stay grew louder (<del>why resist love?</del>), but his self-preservation instincts won out again (why do you keep trying to defy me? <del>I must</del>) and he pushed Gadget off and scrambled for the sword. Unfortunately for him, Gadget was faster on the draw, and he tossed Zero's sword into the ferns before scrambling back to his feet.</p><p>So hand to hand combat it would be.</p><p>The two canines ran at each other, and it occurred to Zero all too late that perhaps hand-to-hand combat with Gadget, who had tackled him and kissed him twice, probably wasn't the best idea.</p><p>It came as no surprise that, after a few ducked punches and weak blocks, Gadget had tackled Zero to the ground again. This time, however, instead of simply kissing Zero, Gadget wrapped himself around the jackal, making it infinitely harder to push him off.</p><p>And yet, Zero wasn't so sure he wanted to push Gadget off? The voice telling him to stay was getting too loud to ignore. Something about this situation seemed familiar; maybe he was in the lead-</p><p>It clicked, and he was free.</p><p>He returned the kiss, and they melted into each others' embrace.</p><p>Zero was the first to speak. "What happened? That felt... weird." Gadget filled him in on what happened, and Zero was understandably upset. "He really wanted me to kill you?"</p><p>"Yeah. I guess he wanted to prove you would follow orders unconditionally; what better way to do that then to have you kill someone you love?"</p><p>Zero looked beyond pissed. "Well, he better watch out, or he might end up killed."</p><p>After some more hugs and kisses, they both stood up and returned to the factory. When Starline saw them walking together, he got out of there so fast, he would have made Sonic jealous.</p><p>"Jeez, who does that guy think he is, the fastest thing alive?"</p><p>Correction: he <strong>did</strong> make Sonic jealous.</p><p>At this point, Zero looked less angry and more tired. "I want to go home."</p><p>Amy looked worried, but she managed a smile. "Take all the time you need."</p><p>That was all Zero needed to hear. He took Gadget's hand, and they ran off to go home and cuddle until things felt right again. Maybe he'd let Gadget be the big spoon.</p><p>He kind of liked it when Gadget was in control.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In case it wasn't clear, the strikethrough was Zero breaking through the hypnosis.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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